Letter: Butte supervisors ignored public in fracking vote

The Butte County Board of Supervisors denied the right of the people to decide whether to ban hydraulic fracking. They kicked the fracking can down the road, as they mouthed words probably fed to them by lawyers like a bird feeds its chicks.

Saying the ballot measure needs more study is really an excuse to short-circuit a timely election. If the board isn't up to speed on the dangers posed by fracking, then they are either using that argument as a phony reason to delay a popular vote, or they shouldn't be Supervisors because of their ignorance of this much-discussed and researched public issue.

Saying the ballot measure was "poorly-worded" sounds like a talking point provided by the slick legal team sent here to represent big energy companies used to getting their way. Apparently a petition signed by thousands of local folks doesn't carry much weight with Supervisors mindful of support from far away corporations who profit from drilling and injecting chemicals into the earth beneath our feet. An election would have decided the long-term legitimacy of the existing ordinance. Instead of democracy, we get decree and delay.

Supervisors are ignoring an unpolished but earnest grassroots movement in favor of profiteers. The 4 to 1 vote of the board gave the drilling companies exactly what they wanted. This November, they should put a blank page in our ballots to remind us of what has been denied to us by four people and their entourage of out of town lobbyists and lawyers.